


The Cat's Fang

by wunderwolfer



Category: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-02-03 12:22:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1744460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wunderwolfer/pseuds/wunderwolfer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fang has never been particularly interested in having pets but there's more to this mysterious kitty than meets the eye. Part of the Fangrabulous Fangrai-forever gift exchange.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cat Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> Gift for Xianit as part of the fabulous fangrai - forever gift exchange. She wanted a modern fantasy AU, and according to her fanfiction profile she likes cats. 
> 
> Many thanks to Freestylesmiles for being my beta and vastly improving this story.
> 
> P.S. I've never had a cat...now I want a cat. Can someone 'lend' me a cat?
> 
> P.P.S. apparently Mau's have unusual vocalisations and mreh rather than meow.

"I don't see why I have to get a cat," Fang groaned at Vanille for the sixtieth time that day. The last thing Fang had wanted to do on her only day off was trawl the cages of a rescue centre looking for a cat. And yet here she was being dragged around the cages by the redhead when she should have been at home doing as little as possible.

"Because I think having a pet will be good for you. I know you've been feeling a bit abandoned since I started seeing Hope , and I think that a pet will make you feel less lonely when I'm not around."

Vanille was a great believer in the therapeutic benefits of pets and had been trying to convince Fang to get a pet for years. Mainly because she hoped that it would transfer some of the brunette's very sweet and loving, though bordering on possessive, affection from the redhead and onto the pet of choice. 'Affection' that had been becoming a little tiresome since Vanille had gotten a boyfriend. But she chose to omit that line of reasoning.

"Fine but why a cat?" Of all the possible pets Fang had always considered herself to be more of a dog person. Arms crossed, she bent down to look into another cage. Inside, the tabby cat sitting with its legs straight out in front of him looked up from cleaning his inside leg. Fang shivered in disgust and moved on.

"Because if you didn't have that stupid job with its stupid compulsory overtime you could have a dog." Vanille paused outside the next cage. "How about this one?" She pointed at the long-haired black cat.

Fang looked inside. "Too prissy," she appraised, making a face at the cute and adorable kitten. "That stupid job, as you call it, pays the bills," Fang reminded her.

"But _you_ hate it," Vanille countered, prodding Fang on the chest bone. "I keep telling you that you should just quit that crappy job and find something you love. I'm sure we could manage if we cut back on a few luxuries and moved somewhere cheaper, and sold the car. And maybe eat less and ..."

Fang rolled her eyes and smiled as Vanille worried about her. It wasn't the redhead's fault she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. In contrast to Fang, Vanille had always known she wanted to be a vet ever since they were children. While Fang was out hunting every animal that walked the earth, Vanille was nursing every injured one she found back to health. And Fang wasn't surprised in the slightest to return to the Orphanage from a long hunt and find a new patient hidden under their bunk bed.

Fang had thought that moving to the big city would give her some direction, or at least some sense of adventure. But instead she had found that the big city was just as uninspiring as the little village Vanille and herself had grown up in. So instead of waiting for inspiration she took the first city job that she was offered, and yes it may be dull but it was easy and the pay was amazing. Enough for them to pay Vanille's fees at Veterinary school and afford the rent on a cosy little house just outside the city.

All in all Fang had a very comfortable life. Perhaps, as Vanille was always quick to comment, a little too comfortable. She always complained that it was as if Fang was waiting for something to happen, and her adventure wouldn't just land in her lap.

"...It makes me feel so guilty that you hate your job," Vanille finished sadly looking away.

"Hey." Fang said softly, putting her arm over the shorter woman's shoulders. "You remember what we agreed when we came to the city. I help you with your dream and then you can help me with mine, when I work out what that is," she added with a smile and pulled Vanille closer. Vanille s responding smile was still too faint for her liking. Fang sighed in defeat. "Until then you can help me find a cat," Vanille grinned brightly up at her big sister, "to make me feel better about my crappy job and that you're deserting me for your boytoy," Fang teased ruffling the redhead's hair.

Vanille squeaked and forgot she was feeling sorry for the irritating brunette as she ruined her new hairdo. "Fang!" she blushed, pushing the chuckling brunette away from her. "He's not that young."

"He's not that old either," she countered, earning her another push. Fang grinned, sometimes Vanille was just too easy to irritate. "Come-on let's find me a cat so we can get on with our lives."

But finding a cat for the picky brunette was proving to be quite the struggle. Every cat they came across the brunette found fault with. The cat hiding in it's bed – too timid. The kittens wrestling with each other – too playful. The grey cat rubbing against its cage and purring – too needy. They grey cat lying down and staring out at them– too dull.

Two hours and fifty cats later Vanille had lost hope they would ever find a cat Fang would approve of. And Fang was left to wander the cages alone while Vanille played with a kitten.

 _Too greedy, too hairy, too hairless. What the hell is that...is it even a cat? Too twitchy, too sleepy..._ Fang stopped. _Two of the biggest blue eyes I've ever seen._

Captivated by the large blue orbs, Fang paused at the cage and crouched down to get a better look at the cat inside. Unlike the other cats in the centre who had either come towards her, run and hid or looked indifferent to the brunette's presence, this cat was sitting perfectly still in the middle of her cage just staring straight at her.

She was strange and beautiful. She looked more like those small African wild cats than any domestic breed Fang had ever seen. Her short-haired coat was a light ginger –almost blonde, patterned with dark grey spots and stripes apart from the white underside of her chin. She was a big cat, but her head was small compared to her body making her oval ears look oversized and bigger than they were. But the most unusual thing about the cat was its collar. It was the most ornate cat collar Fang had seen, consisting of blue and pink stone beads on several rings. And on top of that was a silver necklace holding a rectangle plate engraved with a strange symbol.

_Who puts a cat in a collar like that?_

Looking back up at the cat's face Fang realised that she had been under scrutiny too as cerulean eyes flicked over Fang's features. And when their eyes locked an understanding passed between them. What that was Fang couldn't say, but it was like they suddenly recognised something in one another and their choice had already been made.

"Hey Vanille," Fang called to the redhead on the other end of the room. Vanille head snapped up from the adorable kitchen she'd been scratching through the cage. "How about this one?"

Vanille crossed the room and the blonde cat's glare switched to the redhead as she looked into the cage. "That cat?" She asked sceptically, pointing at the only cat in the cage.

"Yeah." Standing upright Fang frowned at Vanille's frown. She couldn't understand why Vanille was looking so dubiously at the intriguing feline. "What's wrong with her? You wanted me to choose a cat, so I've chosen." She said defensively.

"Nothing, nothing," Vanille said holding her hands up in submission. She was right, she had let the brunette choose a cat but trust Fang to choose the angriest looking cat in the rescue centre. In her experience as a student vet it was always the quiet ones with shifty eyes that you had to watch out for. But she had to admit, cute and cuddly wouldn't really suit Fang's personality. "OK I'll get Hope," Vanille chirped happily, pulling out her phone.

Fang rolled her eyes at Vanille dopey expression as she talked to her boyfriend. Another reason why Vanille had dragged her here. As if Vanille wasn't seeing him enough she had to bring Fang to the rescue centre where Hope was a manager. That was how they met, when Vanille had volunteered here in the veterinary clinic. Fang actually liked Hope a lot, he was sweet, kind and made Vanille incredibly happy. But she was the big sister and Vanille's entire family so it was her job to give Hope the impression that her friendly demeanour towards him only lasted as long as he made Vanille happy.

"Hope!" Vanille squealed like a fangirl when he entered the rehoming room a few minutes later. Used to Vanille's affectionate welcomes he managed to catch the small, giggling woman as she launched towards him, wrapping him in a tight hug.

Hope smiled happily at the brunette over Vanille's shoulder "Hi Fang." Fang returned the greeting with a smile."I hear you're interested in one of our cats," he said, grunting slightly as Vanille's hold tightened around him.

Vanille released Hope with a quick peck on the lips and, holding his hand, led him over the cage. Interested by arrival of a human she recognised, the cat inside the cage was looking a little more animated, stretching her long slender neck as she looked between the three people talking outside her cage.

"Oh Lightning," Hope smiled, sounding pleased by Fang's choice of cat. "She was brought in about a week ago by one of our animal control officers. Let me get her for you." Hope unlocked the cage, picked her up, and brought her to the two women. Glowering at them with dark, narrow eyes and flat ears , Lightning looked even less happy about being handled than she did about being in the cage.

Fang wisely decided that petting the cat without her permission would probably be a bad idea. "Lightning?" Fang asked, folding her arms just in case she was tempted to stroke her soft looking fur.

"Because of the lightning-shaped scar on her left hip." He turned the cat to show them the ragged scar. "And you should see how fast she can run."

"Well she's an Egyptian Mau right?" Hope nodded. "Fastest domestic cat in the world," Vanille explained to Fang. "Is it recent?" Vanille asked leaning forward to examine the scar.

Hope shook his head. "There's no evidence of recent abuse. As far as we can gather from her behaviour, she's definitely come from a home as she recognises certain words and she is unafraid of humans." He scratched the top of the sulking cat's head and smiled indulgently. "She's very clever and a bit of an escape artist. We kept finding her in this corridor almost every morning until we put a padlock on her cage. I'm sure the only reason we didn't lose her entirely was because this door is locked every night," Hope pointed at the door leading into the room they were standing in.

"What's with the collar," Fang asked pointing to the beaded collar around the cat's slim neck.

"She was wearing it when she was picked up. We thought that she must have a devoted owner somewhere to have a bespoke collar like that, but it's been over a week and no one has come to claim her," Hope shrugged. "But the collar is not the weirdest thing about her." Adjusting his hold on the cat so she was under one of his arms, he parted some of the cat's chest hair below her collar with his free hand.

Fang and Vanille leant over to peer at a dark line revealed on her pink skin."What is it?"

"It's a tattoo."

"What!" Vanille snapped her eyes darkening. If there was one thing that sparked the small woman's fury it was animal cruelty. "Who the hell would tattoo a cat?" It was difficult to see with all the hair in the way but Hope was right the dark lines were too smooth and continuous to be natural.

"I don't know. It must have happened a long time ago because all her fur has regrown."

Scars, tattoos, Fang ran her hand through her hair. Sometimes she really couldn't understand how people could be so cruel. "She's really been through the wringer hasn't she. Poor lil' bugger," she said sighing sadly. She put her arm over Vanille's shoulder as the young woman's bottom lip began to wobble dangerously. Unfortunately for the two war orphans, it was another reminder of how callous people can be. Perhaps that's what she had recognised in the cat, another survivor.

Hope silently responded with a nod and Fang remembered that he'd probably looked after thousands of rescued pets who had suffered much more than Lightning.

"Here," he said kindly and passed Lightning to Fang before she had a chance to feel nervous about handling a cat for the first time. He repositioned her hands to show her how Lightning liked to be held with a hand on her chest on her back legs tucked up underneath her. "I think Lightning would be a great pet for you Fang," Hope assured her, stroking Lightning's back as Fang held her. "She's independent, confident, she's not overly affectionate and she's happy to be left alone for long hours while you're at work. She can be a bit grumpy, and it takes a while for her to warm up to you but when she does she is a really great cat. I'd take her home myself, but I don't think she'd get along with my tomcat Snowy."

Fang could feel Lightning's little heart beat against her and it was surprising how warm and comforting it felt to hold her. And when the stubborn cat began to purr happily she knew that Lightning felt so too.

Fang looked up at Vanille, they shared a smile and Vanille gave her the nod of approval. It was appreciated but Fang would have taken Lightning home either way.

The first time she had seen Lightning, the choice was already made.

xxXOXxx

The enormity of what Fang had just done hit her a few hours later.

Everything had happened so fast. She had picked Lightning, there had been paperwork, buying of pet food, a pet carrier, cat litter, toys, and various accessories. And then they were in the car with Lightning in a pet carrier, and Fang was feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness that she was bringing _her_ cat home for the first time.

The return home had not gone exactly as planned. Vanille warned that Lightning might feel a little overwhelmed by the new environment so they had set up a safe room in Fang's bedroom where Lightning could hide and get used to her new home. But Lightning had other ideas, as soon as they opened the pet carrier in the bedroom Lightning had made a break for it sprinting through the partially open door. And the two women had spent an hour chasing after the speedy cat trying to save the items on their window sills as the cat looked for a way to escape.

Lightning was certainly unpredictable, a living being with its own personality and notions Fang realised.

And then it hit Fang as sure as a punch on the nose, for the first time in her life Fang was responsible for a living creature. Sure she had always looked after Vanille but nowadays the redhead practically looked after herself. But Lightning would always rely on Fang for almost everything for the rest of her life. Such responsibility was a little daunting and she was the one left feeling slightly overwhelmed.

The second thing that occurred to her, which Vanille had already figured out, was that Lightning could really stare.

Ever since she had given up trying to escape almost an hour ago she'd been sat in the middle of their living room starring at the two women sat on the sofa. It was becoming a little unnerving. All attempts to pet or initiate play had been rejected by the cat. So now Vanille and Fang were on the couch trying to watch TV, while pretending that they didn't know she was staring even though her glare was so heated they could almost feel it.

The psychological warfare was proving to be too much for the huntress. Without looking at the vet beside her she asked, "do cats always stare this much?"

"Not usually. Just don't look at her directly otherwise she'll see it as a sign of mistrust. She'll get bored eventually." Vanille said out of the corner of her mouth. And then wondered why they were talking about a cat so covertly.

"It's been an hour."

Vanille looked at her watch. "Holy potatoes," she exclaimed with a groan. "it's already dinnertime."

 _Dinnertime!_ Lightning's ears pricked and her head snapped up at the mention of food. _Well that changes everything._ She finally blinked. "Mrehhh," she told the astonished women. Standing up with a tail in a perfect curve she trotted towards the place where food was held. The two women sat still, a little stunned at being liberated by Lightning's powerful glare and her sudden change in behaviour. Lightning padded back into the Living room and frowned at the two humans still sitting on the sofa. She needed them to release the yummy morsels. "Mreeeehhh," she told them again, and this time she made sure they were following her to the place with the food.

Lightning looked up at the redhead expectantly as she dished out the cat food they had bought. Being excited by the prospect of food was something the brunette could understand, but the cat's sudden transformation from cantankerous to ecstatic was almost extraordinary and, Fang had to admit, utterly adorable. Vanille placed the small plate in front of the excited stray. The cat span once on the spot, elegantly dipped down on to sniff the food and immediately jerked her head back in disgust.

"Don't look at me like that," Vanille told the stubborn cat when it glared up at her and licked the offensive smell from her own nostrils. "You need to eat something."

Fang was finding Lightning's obstinate behaviour pretty funny, especially when she began pushing her food bowl around with her paw, but Vanille was not amused. "Quite the connoisseur huh?" Fang joked earning her a double scowl from the redhead and cat. She really couldn't blame Lightning, the wet food smelt like a mixture of beef and salty armpit. Fang decided that she had better things to do than endure the Lightning-Vanille cat food standoff any longer. She made up a small bowl of leftover chicken from the fridge for the furry fiend and grinned triumphantly at Vanille as Lightning immediately tucked in.

Fang licked her finger, a gesture of victory, "huntress one, student vet zero," she smirked.

"Well done," Vanille smiled sarcastically. "You've been manipulated by a cat." Fang's smile dropped. Vanille laughed at the indoctrinated huntress. Lightning was going to wrap the poor inexperienced pet owner round her little paw.

Lightning finished her meal and licked her lips in satisfaction, savouring every morsel of the tasty bird. Pleased and content she appeared to regard the brunette in a much more favourable light. With her tail upright she padded over to where Fang was leaning on the counter and surprised the brunette by briefly rubbing her head and body against her on her way out of the kitchen.

Intrigued by Lightning's friendly behaviour Fang followed the cat out of the kitchen with Vanille (highly amused) close behind her. The cat began to patrol the house, exploring every room and rubbing her head on everything within reach.

They followed Lightning into Fang's bedroom. "What the hell is she doing?" Fang asked the vet as the cat began brushing her cheek and body against a pair of Fang's jeans she'd left hanging on the back of her chair.

"She's putting her pheromones on everything she thinks is hers."

"Oh right." Fang chuckled impressed by the cat's domineering attitude. Lightning leapt up onto Fang's bed claiming it as hers as she settling down on the blanket to sleep _. Imperious little squirt, thinks it owns the couch, the dressers, my bed, my jeans, me_... " _Me!_ " Fang suddenly realised. "She thinks she owns me!" _Did I look like a pushover to a cat! Someone a cat felt it could possess!_

Vanille giggled at Fang's open mouth and pale complexion. "Yeah she's a cat," Vanille shrugged. "She owns you…in an affectionate cat way," she added when Fang's mouth was still hanging open. "Don't worry," she patted Fang on the shoulder, "it means you own her too...sort of."

"We own eachother? What the hell what does that mean?" Fang questioned trailing behind Vanille as she left the room and made her way down the stairs to the front door.

"It means that you have a cat, congratulations." Vanille grinned at the new cat owner and the turned to put on her shoes.

"But I thought I already had a cat..."Fang frowned suspiciously as the redhead put on her coat. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm staying over at Hope's tonight."

"But-but you can't leave me alone with her. I don't know the first thing about keeping a cat!"

Vanille turned back to her sister. "That's what books," she waved at the living room shelves full of her books on animals, "and the internet are for. I can't be your cat whisperer forever ya know."

Knitting her brow Fang worried her bottom lip with her teeth, but Vanille knew exactly how to distract the huntress' anxieties. "You know the Egyptians used Mau's for hunting."

Fang released her lip and arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yep, look it up," Vanille suggested, slamming the front door behind her.

xxXOXxx

In the middle of the night Lightning awoke in the unfamiliar room. Tipping her head back, her nose reminded her where she was. Fang's scent was strong in this room but looking around her she found that she was alone in the brunette's bedroom. She jumped down from the bed, walked to the closed door and gave it an experimental scratch. It was shut. She looked up at the window, that was shut too.

She had no other choice.

She waited for a few minutes at the door until she was sure no one was moving around the house. Closing her eyes, she slowly stretched her body forwards on her front paws. A bright, pink light began to emanate from her chest, curling and wrapping around her body like a fine smoke. Where it touched fur fell, limbs grew, ears and her tail shrank and long pink hair began to grow from the top of her head. She reached the top of her stretch, pushing up onto her hind legs and then in a sudden burst of shifting movement the cat stepped out of the smoke as a human.

Lightning dusted the rest of the fur from her skin, and put her hands above her head stretching her human body, clicking her bones into place and flexing her fingers and toes. Idly she rubbed at the glowing scarab tattoo below her collar and it dulled back to black.

She opened the door and moved down through the dark house. It was more difficult without the night vision of the cat but with practised care, and her recon from earlier that day, she was able to remember the layout of the house and walk down the stairs and through the living room without alerting the sleeping huntress.

She was stretched across the couch one arm behind her head and the other across a book lying open on her lap.

Lightning had to stop for a moment to watch her sleep.

She was beautiful, for a human. Long dark hair, pointy chin, soft skin, full pink lips and the kindest green eyes (currently hidden behind her eyelids) Lightning had ever seen. And such warmth, she added remembering what it had felt like when Fang had held her at the cat prison, how she couldn't stop herself from leaning against her. She wasn't just referring to the woman's charisma either it was literal. Fang's body radiated a comforting heat that Lightning had been denying herself all day and she had to fight the cat's urge to lay down of the sofa and curl up beside her.

Wanting to stay was a novel concept. There was a period a very long time ago she recalled, when she had called somewhere home, but the memories from that time were mixed with pain and she didn't want to remember them. The reality was that staying was dangerous notion. She couldn't afford to become attached until she had finished. Even if she had felt comfortable enough to 'own' everything in this house they were still out there. She'd already lost a week in that prison and she had to find them all before she could rest.

So why was she still standing there watching the brunette sleep?

There was something fascinating about her, some importance Lightning couldn't quite put her finger/ claw on. Curious Lightning picked up the book Fang had been reading. 'The behaviour of cats' Lightning read the title and smiled. _Well if Fang is learning to adjust to the cat perhaps I can learn to stay...at least for a little while,_ Lightning mused placing the book on the side table. Every soldier needs a base, and for once it might as well be somewhere warm and comfortable.

 _And with tasty food_ , the cat agreed licking its lips.

She unlocked the front door and stepped out onto the porch her tattoo already beginning to glow as she quietly closed the door behind her.

_Maybe this time I'll come back._


	2. Runaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The other day at my parent's house a cat was sitting in their garden and staring at me through their patio windows. I felt like it was a sign from the felines to continue my story...although my sister says he does it all the time...either way that kitty can really stare.
> 
> A big nerdy awkward internet hug (because she loves 'em) for my FF dudette whenanxietykicksin. I really didn't like this chapter until she gave it the once over and suggested a much better ending. She's so good to me. She pretends to be such a scally wag but underneath it all she's just an ordinary muffin pirate. Ta matey.
> 
> Warning: Things get a little perilous for our heroines so this chapter is quite dark and violent.
> 
> Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square Enix and I'm not Square Enix.

* * *

 

The sound of the closing door awoke Fang with a start.

Bolting upright and still confused by sleep, she looked around the dark room. It was rare for her to fall asleep on the couch (she always preferred her comfy bed) so it took her a while to realise she must have fallen asleep in the living room and a little while longer to realise what had woken her up. (The proud huntress added to herself that falling asleep on the sofa had absolutely nothing to do with trying to avoid disturbing the grumpy feline now occupying her bed. _Nope, nope, nope, not a Etro damn thing_ ).

Yawning she swung her legs around into a sitting position. "Vanille?" Fang called, thinking the closing door had been her sister returning home. She turned on the lamp and checked the time. It seemed odd that Vanille would come back from Hope's house so late at night. "If that dewy-eyed charmer has done something upset her, I'm gonna kick his little behind," she muttered, figuring that the only reason Vanille would return home so early would be a lover's tiff.

Concerned that her little sister might be upset, she called for Vanille again and gaining no reply stood and began searching the house for her. But Vanille wasn't in her bedroom or the bathroom. Walking past her own bedroom door she realised that the door she had closed after Vanille had left, was now slightly ajar and surmised that the vet must have thought Fang would be in her bedroom and had gone there looking for comfort from the brunette. But poking her head inside she couldn't see the redhead or for that matter, the cat she had left sleeping on her bed. Turning on the light she stepped inside and made a noise, a mix of surprise and revulsion, as her bare feet met the cat fur covering her carpet. The feeling of cat hair between her toes and the soles of her feet felt absolutely disgusting. _I read some cats shed their fur but this is ridiculous_ , the inexperienced cat owner said to herself as she hopped on alternate feet, turning each foot to brush away the cat hair.

Stepping over the pile of hair she searched every inch of her bedroom for the furry culprit but couldn't find her. All the other doors in the house were closed when she had begun her search so she walked straight down the stairs and into the open plan living space, but despite scouring every inch of their living room and kitchen the cat was nowhere to be found.

And that's when Fang began to worry.

There was only one possible, though unlikely explanation for the closing front door and the absent cat. She picked up her phone and called Vanille.

"Fang?" The redhead answered with a yawn. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Vanille where are you?" Fang asked hurriedly, ignoring Vanille's question.

"I'm still at Hope's. Why?"

"Did you just come home and get the cat?"

Fang knew it was a stupid question (why would someone even do that in the middle of the night), so she did not appreciate Vanille's snort of laughter.

"No," Vanille sniggered. "I've been here all night."

Fang cursed through her teeth. Just one day with a pet and she had already lost the little bugger. But she realised there was one place left to check.

Hearing the worried curse Vanille wasn't finding it funny anymore. "Fang," she said seriously, "what's going on? You're scaring me."

Fang pulled on her shoes and grabbed a coat while relaying to her sister everything that happened since she had woken up, "...and now I can't find her anywhere," she finished.

Grabbing a torch Fang stepped out of the front door to look for any signs of the cat. The huntress' trained eyes focussed on the few strands of blonde cat hair trailing down from their porch steps to a set of fresh human footprints on their lawn "Just a sec...there's human bare footprints outside," she updated Vanille and followed them to find a set of handprints either side of a strange mass that was sitting on their front lawn. Crouching down she pulled some of it and her eyes widened in horror as she realised what it was that she was holding. "Ah yuck! There's a pile of pink hair on our lawn," Fang yelped, throwing the strands of hair between her fingers as far away from her as possible.

"Like a wig?" Vanille asked.

"No long human hair, roots an' all," Fang groaned in revulsion and scrubbed her tainted hand on her jeans. Vanille was however, more concerned about the cat than her sister's exposure to some gross skanky hair, and began worriedly constructing an imaginative scenario which involved Lightning being kidnapped by gangs high on mind bending drugs that made them pull their hair out.

Keeping her cool, despite Vanille's verbal anxiety in her ear, Fang stood, searched around the hair and found a single set of cat prints heading away in one direction. "No, it looks like Lightning got loose and ran off alone," she told Vanille. She walked beside the trail, following it across their lawn to the sidewalk and then picking it up again on the other side of the road next to the small woodland leading into the city park. "And she's headed into the park."

She stopped at the tree line and frowned thoughtfully at the animal tracks. Standing still she shone her torch-light around the tracks and then away from her then back across to the pile of hair. Fang was perplexed. The clues and patterns didn't make any sense to the experienced huntress. There were the cat's prints leading into the wood but what had happened to the person who had taken Lightning from the house? Where was their trail?

It didn't really matter now, she decided. She didn't have time to get angry about someone breaking into their home and stealing her cat, or stand around trying figure out the mystery of what had transpired after they'd left the house. Lightning's tracks were still fresh, and thanks to the rain this morning, nicely visible on the soft ground even in the poor light cast by the torch. The huntress judged by the timing of the closing door and the probably speed of a cat that if she started following them now, she might be able to catch up with her.

Fang set off in pursuit using her torch to follow Lightning's pad prints through the trees.

"Okay," Vanille said agreeing with Fang's narrated plan, "I'm coming to you with the car."

"No Nille, ya don't need to do that."

"Oh right, so when you find Lightning you're gonna pick her up and carry her all the way home?" Vanille said sceptically.

An image of Fang trying to contain the squirming, angry feline in her arms suddenly entered the brunette's head making her stumble slightly mid-stride. "No," she admitted with a defeated sigh, moving a branch out of her way.

"Well then stop fussing. I'll swing by the house, pick up the carrier and then come and meet you," Fang heard Hope mumbling in the background. "No it's okay Hope, if anyone can find her it's Fang. I'm only going to pick them up," Vanille reassured her worried boyfriend. "Text me to let me know where you are," she told the huntress.

"Yeah, alright."

"We have to find her Fang," the vet added seriously. "She hasn't bonded with us long enough to come back and she could get lost or run over."

"I know, I know," Fang said gently, "don't worry I'll find her. See you soon."

Fang closed her phone and shoved it into her coat pocket. She quickly looked around her as she ran. Being in the city park after dark was not safe and the faster she got out of the dark woodland the better. So she concentrated on her hunt, but made sure to regularly refocus onto her surroundings and check for any signs of danger and unsavoury characters.

Finally she pushed through the trees and into the park without incidence and took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief before setting off again. The full moon and cloudless sky meant that the light was much better out from under the trees, and in the relatively open space of the parkland Fang was able to pick up the pace, occasionally slipping on the wet grass as she ran beside the trail. From what Fang could glean from her trail Lightning's tracks only showed a few signs of hesitation where the cat had paused and slightly changed her direction. One thing was for certain, they didn't appear to be the tracks of a frightened or lost animal, Lightning seemed to know exactly where she was going and she was going there fast.

Despite being worried about the cat, Fang was finding the experience kind of exciting - the blood coursing through her veins, her leg muscles aching with the activity, the challenge, the anticipation - Fang had forgotten how much she had missed the hunt. Vanille was right, sitting behind a desk day after day, doing a job she hated was really sucking the life out of her, leaving a gaping hole that gradually filling with apathy and boredom. But at least the proud Yun was pleased to find that she hasn't forgotten any of her tracking skills as she managed to follow the animal in the dark across the entire park and out into the edge of the well-lit clubbing district of the city.

"Damn it!" She cursed turning off her torch. She really wished she had caught up with the cat in the park. Even for a seasoned hunter like herself, tracking on concrete or any hard stony ground was virtually impossible.

Fang stepped back to make way for a large group of loud, giggling ladies to walk by. This end of the city street wasn't particularly busy with people as it was more of a thoroughfare from the city bars to the trendy clubs located further up the street. But there was enough traffic for Fang to predict that any trace of the cat, hair or muddy prints, would probably have been disturbed by revellers using the road to reach the nightclubs.

She was going to need reinforcements. She texted Vanille and the redhead arrived ten minutes later looking as worried Fang when she saw Fang was without a cat.

"I'm sure I was close behind her so she couldn't have gotten far," Fang explained after updating her sister on the situation. She grabbed the spare torch from their car's glove compartment, handing it to the redhead. "Let's split up," she suggested locking the car doors with her set of keys. "You take this side of the road next to the park and I'll take the other."

"Okay," Vanille nodded and immediately set off down the road calling for Lightning as she searched the bushes and trees around the park's edge. Fang crossed to the other side of the road to start her own search shining her torch into the alleys between the expensive cafes and restaurants that lined this side of the street. They had closed hours ago and the street was becoming more deserted as the two women searched for the lost cat. The taxis and late night clubbers passing them by became rarer and rarer until eventually only Fang and Vanille were left on the street.

An hour later the two Pulsians had ended up right back where they had started. "Anything?" Vanille shouted across the road.

Fang shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. She hasn't found a single trace of the cat. "She could be anywhere by now," she said in defeat as Vanille crossed the road to join her, "either that or she's hiding in the network of backstreets nearby."

"Then we will just have to come back during the day to look for her and keep phoning around the rescue centres."

Hands on her hips Fang thoughtfully nibbled her bottom lip while she tried to think if there was anything else they could do to find her tonight. She always hated going home from a hunt empty handed but being worried about her uncaptured prey was a first. "I guess so," she finally agreed when her mind came up blank and emitted a long, deep audible breath.

Vanille linked arms with the glum huntress and began leading her back to their car. "She's micro chipped so I'm sure she'll turn up eventually," Vanille said confidently but Fang wasn't reassured. There was something about thus entire situation that didn't sit right with the brunette and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

"Help me!"

They froze as a woman cried out to them from the alley they were walking by. "Did you hear that?" Vanille asked looking up at Fang. Cat forgotten the two women stopped walking and peered into the dark alley.

"Help me please!" the woman cried out to them again between gasping sobs, sounding desperate and terrified.

The city could be a dangerous place and only criminals and idiots wandered its back streets at night. And Fang wanted to help, of course she wanted to help but the alleyway was so dark. She couldn't see anything of what was waiting in there even with her torch, and she was not about to go in there blind and risk Vanille's safety for anyone.

Fang clenched her fists and remained where she was, but another cry for help was enough motivation for the redhead. Fang grabbed her sister's wrist before she could move. "Wait. This isn't Oerba ya know," she said seriously." We should call the police and wait for them to turn up."

"It could be too late by then," Vanille whispered harshly. "We can't just stand here and do nothing."

Vanille matched Fang's stare and the brunette could see by the determined glint in her eyes that there was no use reasoning with her. Someone was in trouble and that meant Vanille was going to help the woman whether Fang was with her or not. Fang groaned. Sometimes her sister could be irritatingly heroic. "Just stay behind me," she ordered moving in front of the shorter woman. Taking her hand she turned on her torch and quickly led Vanille into the narrow passageway.

But the long alleyway was suspiciously empty. Even as she eyes adjusted to the light she couldn't see any woman or any possible attackers. It was just an ordinary alley littered with rubbish and a few large industrial bins from the restaurants either-side. I don't like this, she thought. It was too quiet, too dark and eerily empty. Curiosity she suddenly realised, had brought them half way down the long alley and she was not going to take Vanille any further away from the street. "I don't like this," she repeated aloud beginning to turn back to her sister.

As she turned she suddenly noticed little details that sent her feeling of unease into full blown hair-raising dread. The alley was a dead end, the only exit was behind them, the wall mounted security light was smashed to make the alley dark.

Vanille's eyes widened as a dark shadow appeared behind Fang. She shouted a warning to the huntress but it was already too late.

The hard punch from behind surprised her, striking Fang's cheek and forcing her into the alley wall and making her drop her torch. But this wasn't Fang's first street fight, although shocked she reacted intuitively, immediately lashing out at the general direction of where her foe had stood. But her fist sailed through the air without coming into contact with anything. Instead they suddenly reappeared beside Fang bringing their elbow up towards the huntress's face. This time Fang managed to turn enough to block the jab with her arm. She twisted out of its way, opening their stance intending to follow with a knee to her gut but as she adjusted her balance the attacker was gone.

It was like fighting smoke. Her attacker moved faster than Fang had ever seen. Fang's attacker, who Fang could now see was a small blonde woman, seemed to disappear in one place and reappear in another, always dodging the huntress's attacks and laughing merrily before striking the huntress' face or ribs. For every punch Fang blocked another two would find its target and Fang was becoming more desperate as her vision began to blur with the brutal force of the hits. Breathless and dazed she lost her focus and wildly lashed swung out all around her trying to hit her evasive foe and didn't see the woman appear behind her.

"Get away from her," Vanille yelled while running to Fang's aid, using her torch to hit their attacker's on the head before it could strike her sister. It pitched forward holding its head in agony. Turning towards her, Fang used the momentum and the closing distance to her advantage to finally give it a solid punch to side of her head that sent her attacker sprawling onto the floor.

"FANG!" Vanille screamed as a pair of arms grabbed the younger woman from behind before she could strike the woman again.

Fang looked up from her opponent and her eyes widened in horror saw her worst nightmare realised; a tall blonde man was holding a struggling Vanille captive with a hand tight around her throat and a hand over her mouth.

"No,"' Fang screamed furiously and made to run to her sister but before she could move something hit the back of Fang's skull and she felt herself falling face first onto the pavement.

Everything slowed and stopped.

She had no memory of the strike or the fall and it was only when her senses slowly returned that she put what had happend together. The feeling of the wet, cold ground pressing into her clothes, the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, her throbbing, dizzy head. She heard a clatter of wood beside her and realised the woman must have used something to deliver a blow to the back of her head. Groaning and feeling sluggish Fang slowly rolled onto her back blinking rapidly as she tried to clear her blurred vision.

That sinister laugh trickling through the alleyway again, its joviality a cold contrast to what the assailant was about to do. Fang screamed in pain as the woman stamped on Fang's right shin bone. The fogginess in Fang's brain was replaced by sharp, translucent pain and she rolled onto her side to clutch her damaged leg as her laughing attacker circled the huntress and kicked the stomach hard enough to crack her ribs and silence her cries of agony.

The pain was almost overwhelming. She battled against her body's response to shut down, forcing her heavy eyelids to stay open. Don't pass out. Don't pass out. Don't pass out... Fang repeated in her head trying to focus on her terrified sister, willing herself to stay conscious for Vanille.

"Did I choose well my love?" The woman purred, smoothing down her clothes which had been deshevled by the fight and running a hand through her hair

"Yes Mother," he replied nonchalently, comparatively unemotional and sounding almost bored. "You know how I like mine to be so very sweet."

"And I enjoy breaking the fighters, so no squabbling over the food," she said with a disturbing toothy grin and closed her eyes for a moment as she tasted the dribble of blood from the corner of her own mouth.

Vanille's hand still gripped her torch and its light flicked around the alley as she struggled against the man's grip to light their attackers' shadowy features. The mother and son, as that was how they referred to one another, were well dressed: him in a dark suit and her in a matching dark dress with high heels and a short jacket. It was too dark to differentiate all of her features but there was enough light to show she had too many teeth and her face was just...wrong, and her eyes looked like they were shining. And so was the son's, Fang realised as the male growled lowly and bared his teeth at his mother in a hideous smile revealing rows of small narrow pointed teeth and long oversized fangs. It sent a chill down the brunette's spine that settled uncomfortably in her stomach. It was more than fear it was a primal instinct of a threat and the huntress knew a dangerous predator when she saw one.

"Why don't you feed first," she suggested to her son looking down at the fallen huntress. "I think this one deserves to watch."

Whimpering with wide terrified eyes, Vanille struggled against his hold, clawing at the man's hand that clamped around her throat as he leaned in to nuzzle Vanille's long red hair.

"Don't..." Fang mumbled groggily trying to push herself upright, "don't you touch her you basta—ugh." The woman's shoe pressed into Fang's neck, forcing her back onto the ground until she could hardly breathe let alone make a sound. She clawed at the foot on her neck and the woman's bare leg but the woman seemed unperturbed. Fang was always proud of her extraordinary strength but this woman's was in a league of its own. She was like a lead weight on her throat, immovable and heavy. She leaned down towards Fang. "Keep struggling and you can watch him break her neck instead," she promised Fang. She may be smiling but her large green, glowing eyes were cold just like her son's and hard enough for Fang to know it wasn't just an empty threat. Her eyes darted to her sister's and she tried to tell her sister just with her eyes that everything would be okay. Because if she moved they would kill Vanille outright, but if she waited maybe, just maybe she could find an opening she could use to save her. And so all Fang could do was watch the scene unfolded in front of her. It was the hardest and most horrifying thing she had ever had ever do in her life.

Something strange was happening. Everything slowed again. There was intensity in the air, like a pressure on Fang's chest that began to build and buzz with tense energy as the creature picked Vanille up by her throat. Vanille's nostrils were flared and her eyes were wide open and now fixed only on the man as he effortlessly held her out in front of him inches from the ground as if she was weightless. Smiling darkly he whispered something in Vanille's ear and the redhead's torch dropped to the ground as her body went limp, her hands falling to hand loosely at her sides. Fang thought Vanille had fainted but as he positioned his mouth above Vanille's, the redhead's mouth began to slowly open of its own accord until it gaped ghoulishly open, much wider than should be humanly possible. He opened his mouth wide, curling back his lips and exposing his long teeth. But he didn't bite, he breathed in, and an iridescent white light burst from Vanille's mouth illuminating the monster's features and lighting the alleyway. It was pure and bright, almost too intense to look at directly, and it was becoming brighter as his cheeks hollowed sucking in the wisps of glowing light that flowed from Vanille's mouth.

Fang was done with being patient.

Fang couldn't understand what was happening but somehow she knew it was killing her sister and that was more terrifying than anything anyone could do to her. She tried to move, pushing at the woman's foot but the woman reminded Fang of her dark promise with heel of her shoe. Fang choked and gripped the shoe to try and stop it from crushing her airway completely but the woman was too strong and continued to press upon her throat. Unable to breathe, Fang was losing consciousness fast, but she couldn't not yet, she had to stay awake and find an opening, something, anything she could use to her advantage. But what happened next was unlike anything Fang could have never have predicted.

A voice came to them through the night air, strong and clear. Fang didn't know it then but it was the voice of their saviour, and from the most unlikely of sources.

"Mreh," their hero said.

The son's mouth snapped shut and Vanille's closed as well, the bright light disappearing as her head lolled to the side. His eyes snapped to his mother. "What was that?" He frowned.

"I cannot see." The pressure on Fang's neck lessened as the woman searched the alley and Fang was able to take a few short, shallow breaths. The woman's face dropped in fear. "No...no, no. Oh god." The woman wasn't laughing anymore. Fang's eyes tried to follow the woman's fearful gaze but she still couldn't see what was terrifying their attackers.

"Mrrrooooowww," the voice said followed by a long threatening hiss.

Wait a second Fang knew that growl! She squinted into the dark and a pair of glowing, piercing blue eyes appeared followed by the rest of their lost blonde rescue mau.

 _Of all the bloody times to turn up_...Fang wanted to yell angrily at her cat but if she had been in a position to speak Lightning would have been unconcerned by her owner's threats and reprimands. Hissing and growling, her ears flattened against her lowered head, Lightning only seemed to be interested into their two attackers switching her gaze between them as she stalked closer. And the attention of their attackers was now solely upon the new arrival.

This entire scenario was descending into madness, Fang decided. As far as Fang could see it was just Lightning, it was just a cat, but the mother and son seemed to be terrified. They shrank away from her but responded in kind, hunching their shoulders and baring their long teeth at the approaching cat as Lightning came closer and jumped up onto the bin beside them.

Fang may not understand it but that didn't mean she wasn't going to use it. She pushed the distracted woman's foot from her throat and rolled onto her knees gasping for air. And as if Lightning had been waiting for that moment she bolted to the edge of the bin and with a high-pitched screech pounced at the man's head claws first.

He howled in pain releasing Vanille to pull Lightning away from his face with both hands. "Vanille!" Fang yelled as the redhead dropped to the floor. Grimacing in pain from her injured shin and ribs, she crawled the short space across the ground and turned Vanille onto her back. Vanille looked up at the brunette with a confused frown. "Fang?" She breathed a sigh of relief. Vanille's response was groggy but otherwise she looked unharmed.

Protectively crouching over her sister Fang's eyes were drawn back the fight happening above them as Lightning dodged and swiped at Vanille's attacker. Repeatedly jumping away and onto the ground as he made his strike but then using the walls and bins to gain some height and pouch back towards his head with her claws outstretched. Her attacks were fast, accurate and effective. And it wasn't long before the blood from his injuries began running down his face and into his eyes, making him stumble around the narrow alley bumping into the walls on either side as he tried to defend himself.

His terrified accomplish pushed past the pair locked in battle and without stopping to help the cowardly woman ran for the street. Lightning with her paws locked around the man's throat, paused to watch her run away, seeming to hesitate over whether or not to give chase. And her distraction was long enough for him to pull her from his face, screaming as she tried to maintain her hold with its claws tearing his throat with shallow cuts.

Stubbornly Lightning continued to fight struggling and wriggling against the strong grip around her neck, and trying to claw at his enraged face even as he held her out of arms reach.

Seeing that Lightning was in trouble and thinking of nothing but helping her, Fang tried to get up and grunted as she thoughtlessly put all her weight onto her damaged leg. She cursed through gritted teeth and fell onto her side as blinding white pain pulsed through her body again. And could only watch in horror as he brought his arm back and hurled her cat against the nearest wall. To fast to right herself Lightning's small body slammed against the wall with a sickening thud and fell lifeless to the ground.

He pulled back his leg intending to finish the unmoving cat with a kick. "Bastard," Fang roared and utilising all her anger and adrenaline she focused her brain long enough to reach forward from her position and grab his raised leg yanking it backwards as she leaned back with all her weight. Unbalanced he fell onto his injured face as Fang fell back. And then he was up on his feet scrambling after his mother and Fang was in no fit state to follow him.

As she released his leg she fallen hard onto her back, and exhausted by the exertion and her injuries, she made no attempt to break her fall and her brain rattled in her head as it met the hard pavement.

At least the pain had stopped, that was good was all she could think, the numbness felt like such a relief. But the loud ringing in her ears was more than worrying and so was her fading vision. Vanille was leaning over her, looking worried and saying something but she couldn't hear a thing. The huntress tried to mumble something to reassure her she was okay but she was struggling to find the words in her confused brain. And then Vanille wasn't there anymore and she was alone with her.

Fang's head rolled to the side to where Lightning was still lying unmoving. And as she finally gave in to the encroaching darkness only one thought was clear in her mind.

_It's all my fault._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I bet you guys weren't expecting that, especially if you're familiar with my other stories (I generally write crac fics). WAKI asked me if I was in a bad mood when I wrote it and the short answer is yes. Although I was always intending for the story to go this way I just had to wait until I was in a bad mood to write it.
> 
> And not that it needs to be said because you're intelligent people - I mean you're reading my story so you must be *fwa fwa haw haw ha*, but no seriously - do not walk through a parkland or down alleyways at night its really, really frigging dangerous.
> 
> The fight scene may seem a bit extraordinary but as you've probably noted Lightning isn't an ordinary kitty and those are not vampires in the strictest sense. I don't want to give too much away but things will be revealed over the course of the story (I know its amazing! I have a story plan, ain't I growin' like).
> 
> Gonna be afk for a while, might not be back till next year (my messy life is always getting in the way) so I hope you can put up with my slow updates. As I've always said my updates are few and far between but I always finish my stories...eventually.
> 
> Hope you liked it and thanks for all the kudos. I find them really encouraging you lovely bunch of people.


	3. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I liiiiive...Sorry for the slow updates. Life is busy. 
> 
> The world is really f**cked up at the moment, so here's to the people who support us through our darkness moments, even when we’re being complete d*ckheads. This is dedicated to my Apo, to whom I was a total d*ckhead. Words can never express how truly sorry I am. 
> 
> Warning: Its another dark chapter I'm afraid.

* * *

  _"_ _It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault."_

_If she hadn't snuck out two days ago to go hunting, if she had stayed behind to help her mother set up the Ger like she had asked her to, this wouldn't have happened. She could have done something._

_Everywhere they travelled, they had heard that soldiers were attacking and looting villages as they made their way to distant battlefields, but it had never occurred to Fang that her tribe could be in danger and it could happen to the nomadic Yun._

_The teenager still refused to believe what her gut was telling her. Even as she reached the top of the hill out of breath and looking down at what was left of her tribe, overwhelmed by the familiar scent of burning wood and something else; something sickly sweet that hit the back of her throat._

_Blinded by the thickening smoke from the burning camp site she had run down the hill and dragged herself through the mud and ash, calling out as she desperately searched every body, every tent and caravan but there was no one left alive. They'd killed her entire clan, even the children._

_And then near the edge of the camp, she found the thing she had feared the most in the entire world. Her mother and father, slumped behind a makeshift barricade of crates, still holding onto their hunting rifles and surrounded by the bodies of their enemies._

_Screaming, she dropped onto the ground beside them as the heavy grief she had been gathering walking among her dead tribesmen suddenly hit her. She had no idea how long she spent on her knees, clutching and crying into her mother’s sari that is was all her fault for leaving them, but to her time no longer mattered. Without her parents and her clan the teenager was lost._

_Hours later, bewildered and still in shock she found herself aimlessly wandering between the bodies of her clan member with her father's rifle in her hands. Her eyes were still wet from crying but she wasn't making the sound that had roused her from her shock-induced stupor. The noise was distant and faint but it had pulled her back to reality._

_Someone was crying._

_Cocking her father's rifle, she cautiously followed the sound to the camp boundary, only to find the bodies of the Dia family laid out in front of their caravan. She started crying again. Fang had always loved the autumn months when the travelling storytellers joined the Yun to tell stories of heroes and monsters from faraway places. And now that was gone too. They hadn't even spared the heavily pregnant Mrs Dia._

_Fang crouched down by the fiery haired woman. Her hands and body was shaking with fear but she had to check just in case. Without looking at the dead woman's face she closed her glazed lifeless eyes and then with a deep breath reached down to touch Mrs Dia's belly and felt nothing but a chilling stillness. Pulling back her hand she gagged to find in covered in blood and doubled over as she was sick. Still sobbing she scrubbed the blood from her hand onto the grass and then used the back of her hand to wipe her mouth._

_She heard it again - a single choked sob from the sound of someone trying to muffle their cries had come from behind her. She stood and looked around her and the young huntress noted the recently flattened ground leading under the Dia's small family car that they used to tow their caravan. She moved to the other side, lay down flat on the ground and between the narrow space of the mud and the underside of the car she found what the Dia's had been protecting. Covered in thick mud, terrified but alive the young red-haired Dia stared back in surprise at the startled teenager._

_Fang was momentarily taken aback at finding a survivor in such carnage, before her astonishment was replaced by a certain sense of calm and then coherence. The young survivor was just the objective the young huntress needed to distract her from her loss. And as she finally came to her senses she knew exactly what they needed to do._

_"Come on we've got to get out of here." Fang reached out her hand towards the young girl and frowned in confusion when, instead of taking it the terrified girl began to back away. "Hey I'm a Yun, you don't need to be afraid of me. Look," she said quickly, placing her father's rifle on the ground and smiled reassuringly as she reached for her again. But although this time the young girl didn't try to move away, she still seemed too afraid to take her hand._

_Fang was starting to lose her patience. This was the wrong time to be wary. The soldiers could return at any time to hide the evidence of their massacre so she needed - no had to - get the Dia as far away from the camp as quickly as she could._

_Fang wracked her brain to try and remember the young Dia's name. "Its Vanille isn't it?" The red-head's large eyes locked with Fang's and after a moment of hesitation she gave a small nod. "Ya Mum and Dad told me to come and get you, and take you somewhere safe so-."_

_The young girl didn't let Fang finish that sentence. Her wide terrified eyes suddenly narrowing, she condemned Fang’s attempt to sugar coat the atrocity she’d witnessed. She didn't want to feel better, and she did not need to be protected from reality with lies. "They're dead," the young girl snapped. "They made me hide under the car and then I…I had to watch them...They're dead," she repeated her voice lowering to a harsh whisper. "Everyone is dead and those vipers killed them."_

_She was right. Everyone was dead._

_Fang had got to her the feet. She couldn't exactly remember when or why she had stood up during Vanille's angry reprimand, but-_

_Everyone was dead. And those vipers had killed them._

_Something had to be done._

All that anger and hate in those young, tear-stained eyes had been shocking but after everything the younger girl had experienced it was fitting. It was righteous. What was the point of all this grief, it wasn't going to help her parents, her tribe. Everyone she had ever known was dead. Killed for nothing but a few chocobos and supplies that wouldn't last an army a day.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.

_She gripped the rifle that she must have picked up at some point, wringing the cold metal between her fingers._

_Everyone was dead. And those vipers had killed them. And something had to be done._

_Her tribe was -had been old, the oldest warrior clan on Gran Pulse the elders claimed. Most of the accumulated traditions and rules from the old days had been forgotten or followed as little more than superstition, but the ethos was the same and it was ingrained into the very being of every Yun that was ever born. It said that nothing was more important than the clan, and in life as in death the clan must always be honoured._

_She knew what she had to do. She had to hunt them. Track them down and kill as many of them bastards as she could. It was desperate, it was suicide but something had to be done. She’d make them pay for every Yun life they had taken. It was what her father and mother would have done and she would make the warriors proud of her before she joined them. It would be easy too. So easy for a seasoned huntress like herself. They were just animals, beasts..._

_"Don't leave me."_

_In her grim resolve for vengeance, Fang had almost forgotten about the terrified survivor until the Dia reached out from under the caravan and clasped onto her ankle to hold her in place._

_"I’m sorry don't leave me. I can’t…I can’t get out I’m stuck,” Vanille admitted between tears as she explained that the mud that had been thrown up by the battle had made the car sink into the ground trapping the young Dia beneath it._

_“Please help me Fang."_

_Fang responded with a strange strangled sound, half way between a laugh and a sob. Because it was ridiculous. Laughable really. Before Vanille had stopped her from leaving her head had been full of nothing but revenge and now that had been interrupted, her thoughts were clear and somber. She was just a kid, she couldn’t help Vanille. She couldn't help her clan and now she couldn't help Vanille. And as for plan for avenging her clan, that was another testament to her age, just childish and pathetic. She wouldn't get within 100 yards of the soldiers before they killed her too._

_With an angry cry she punched the car door. She punched it again, and again, and again, working herself into a hysterical frenzy. Now her fury was finally unleased and directed at the car she found she couldn't stop herself. Even when Vanille began to scream in fright she couldn't even hear her she was so blinded with rage. Her body burned with energy and adrenaline as she stalked around the car and thought about her friends and her clan. She punched through the driver window as she imagined their happy friendly faces dropping in horror when the enemies attacked without warning, about their screams of agony and terror as the soldiers cut them down. Fang thought of her Mother and her Father as she kicked the car bumper. Her Mother’s warm hugs and her Father’s cheerful laugh as she used the butt of her rifle to smash out the back window. And then, as she threw her rifle to away from her and she crouched down to grip the bottom of the car, she thought about her parents' bloodied bodies and became too incensed to even think about the impossibility of what she was about to do. The young teenager screamed as she straightened her legs and lifted the car from the ground._

_Vanille was still whimpering in fright but had enough sense to scramble out from under the car as soon as she was able too. Then once she was clear she turned to sit on the mud breathless by the exertion and the astonishing sight of the furious young teenager holding up her parent's small car._

_The car made a loud metallic clunk as Fang dropped the car back into the ground and she staggered back slightly. She suddenly became aware of her aching muscles, and would have dropped to the floor in exhaustion if Vanille hadn't rushed over to pull the stupefied huntress into a fierce hug._

_“Please don’t leave me, please don’t leave me…” She whispered it over and over into Fang's shirt, but at first Fang was unable to feel or see anything and stood staring vacantly ahead with her arms limp with her arms at her sides. But through the grief-stricken haze she felt Vanille’s arms tighten around her. Her warmth was comforting. She was alive and Fang had found her. She didn't need to give in to despair because in that moment, surrounded by all that death she had found her reason and strength again. Looking down at the head of red hair, she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl's shoulders and pulled her closer._

_This time she'd do it right and never let anyone take Vanille from her._

_"Don't worry I'm not going anywhere," Fang promised, lying her cheek on top of the smaller girl's head and closing her eyes. "I'll protect you and we'll always be together."_

The world went black.            

_Fang stumbled forward as Vanille disappeared from her arms. "Vanille!" Fang said looking around her for the young girl. "Vanille!" She shouted desperately spinning around and peering into the darkness she repeatedly screamed her bond sister's name, but each time her call was met with silence._

_An orange glow appeared far ahead of her and with it the faint sound of someone weeping. Without thinking she ran towards it. Passing between tall columns of cold stone, her sandals clacked against the hard floor until she was stopped by a wall that rose high above her and out either side of her, far into the darkness. The only break in the sheer stone was a small, narrow doorway cut into the wall and within it she found the source of the anguished cries, and it wasn’t Vanille._

_The gilded gold doors that led into a small room were broken inwards, and half laying in the doorway a strange fair-haired girl wearing what looked like a long white dress, was sitting on her knees with her back to the huntress. The girl looked up at the house-like structure made of stone in the room in front of her and between her sobs began shouting angrily in a language that Fang didn't understand. As Fang quietly moved closer the dull light of the oil lamps placed in a semi circle around the door revealed that it wasn't a girl but a woman, and Fang gasped to see that she was cradling someone who had been hidden from the Yun by the hunched figure of the crying woman._

_Had the soldiers come here too?_

_In her confused state Fang thought this was still her dream. But through the groggy haze she remembered that this hadn't happened. It wasn't her memory or her nightmare, but the grief and the fear was still there, and was as real as if they had been hers._

_Behind Fang in the darkness, the distant sound of enraged voices was steadily becoming louder but the young woman seemed either oblivious or uncaring of their menacing voices. She broke down in another fit of despair rocking back and forth as she wailed over the person lying still in her lap. Her cries were so harrowing and filled with despair that Fang didn't need to speak her language to know that the woman was grief stricken. Fang’s heart sank in sympathy at the woeful sound and she put her own concerns to one side. She had to help her._

_"Are you alright?" Fang asked softly beginning to reach out her hand to touch the trembling woman on her shoulder._

_It turned to face her and Fang reeled back in horror. It may have looked like a woman from behind but her face was far from human. Between the strands of long pale, matted hair and dirt that covered it's face, the creature bared it's fangs at the startled huntress and it's large eyes glowed a fierce bright blue._

_Fang stumbled backwards as the thing snarled, jerking her hand away just in time to avoid its snapping teeth. The creature perused her and without taking her eyes away from the huntress, slid out from under the body it had been cradling, gently lowering it to the floor as it fluidly turned onto all fours. It's features were pale and appeared pinched - taunt skin over muscle and bone like a person sucking at their cheeks and teeth. And although its form was largely human, on all fours it stalked towards her with a bestial agility that had Fang quickly backing away to keep some distance between them. But it's eyes were the features that really chilled Fang to the bone, they were the large dilated eyes of a predator that avidly watched every movement Fang made._

_Slowly it crawled into the light of an oil lamp that seemed to burn brighter in her presence to reveal every gruesome feature that had been hidden in shadow. And to her horror Fang finally saw that it wasn't dirt that covered it's face and dress, it was blood. It was smeared across it's growling face, and the demon's hands were marred and dark with it as it spread its claws onto the stony floor._

_The huntress knew that if she looked away it would attack and so she kept her eyes on the demon and her hands spread out in front of her. But as she defensively took another slow step backwards her heel caught on something and she fell. Her eyes left the creature as her hands flailed backwards to keep her head from hitting the floor and with a dull thud her elbow made impact with the soft object that had caused her to trip. Now at ground level, she could what it was that had caused her to fall, and her heart dropped in fear at the sudden realisation of her fate._

_There were bodies, torn to shreds and spread out across the ground._

_She looked up, just in time to see the monster’s long white fangs as it pouched._

xxXOXxx

Fang gave a yell as she bolted upright in her hospital bed. Still deep asleep and dreaming, she began to defend herself from the demon that was still attacking her in her nightmare. Vanille, who had been sleeping beside the bed until the Yun began to scream and thrash, was roused out of sleep and rushed to her bedside to try to stop the sleeping woman from falling out of her bed. Fang’s eyes were open but Vanille could tell that she was still asleep because her punches were sluggish and imprecise, and if the hunter had been fully awake Vanille would have never been able to get a hold on both her wrists. She held onto her arms and gently tried to wake Fang by calling her name but it just made the brunette increase her efforts, twisting her hands to try to escape the firm grip on her arms. Her face was contorted in pain from whatever horrors she was experiencing as she slept, and it broke Vanille’s heart as it always did during Fang’s night terrors, when she began calling for her dead mother.

"It's okay Fang. It was just a dream. It's okay. I'm here," Vanille repeated gently until Fang’s face slackened and her arms relaxed dropped to her lap. Vanille held onto Fang’s hands, soothingly rubbing her thumb over the back of her hand as Fang began to wake up. She blinked her eyes slowly, and Vanille watched as Fang’s gaze cleared and she focussed on her sister. A relieved grin spread across the redhead’s face.

"Thank Etro." Fang rasped when she that it was Vanille standing next to her bedside. The pain that flared in her damaged throat when she spoke felt like the words were clawing over raw exposed skin but she ignored it, she was just so thankful that Vanille was okay. She easily slipped out of Vanille’s grasp and wrapped her arms around her sister, pulling her half onto the bed and into a fierce hug. They spoke over each other as they fussed, asking each other if they were okay, then hugging again, then pulling away to ask if they were okay again, then hugging again. It was a repetitive circle of concern and reassurance, broken only when Fang lifted Vanille’s t-shirt to check for any hidden injuries. The Dia felt a cool breeze on her midriff and realised what the huntress was doing. Yelping in protest she quickly stepped back onto the floor and out of Fang’s reach before she had a chance to lift her skirt as well, while smacking her concerned sister’s hands away. “Fang stop it. They said I’m fine. Just a few bruises.” Vanille rearranged her dishevelled clothing and rolled her eyes at the grinning, triumphant huntress who, as always, looked very pleased to have taken the beating for her little sister.

 Fang’s smile dropped as her gaze drifted to Vanille's neck and she saw the outline of dark bruises on her sister’s pale skin where that demon had held her by the throat. Just a few bruises. Just a few bruises! Everything that had happened in that alley came back to her and so did the anger in a hot and eager flood of emotion. Growling, Fang attempted to get out of bed deciding that she was going to hunt them down and break open their hideous faces.

 "Oerba Yun Fang!" Fang flinched and paused with one leg hanging over her bed at the sound of Vanille’s reprimanding tone, a tone the huntress knew well and feared to hear. Vanille was a loving, warm and cheerful woman, but when she was being bossy she was seriously scary. Slowly and with some trepidation, she looked up to see Vanille scowling at her with her hands on her hips and her lips pursed. "You best stay in that bed and rest or I'll give you such an ear bashing you'll wish I'd left you in that alley,” she warned and wagged a finger at the bashful looking Yun. “You think I want to wait around in this hospital any longer than I have already because you wanted to jump out of bed to play hero in a confrontation that’s already happened! And look how well that turned out the first time…”

 Still scowling and scolding, Vanille nudged Fang on her shoulder and motioned for her to get back into bed, to which Fang obeyed. She hissed when the movement stretched her bruised ribs, and hissed again as Vanille began tucking her back into bed a little too rigorously. Finally relaxing, she lay back down and watched Vanille move around her bed to tuck her back into bed. She felt a little guilty for worrying her sister who’s eyes were red from crying and exhaustion, but she felt lucky too. Fang smiled gently and her heart swelled with love for her little sister and, not for the first or last time, she felt very blessed to have someone who cared about her so much. Vanille was alive and she was alive. That meant Fang was happy and she found herself begin to calm.

Besides, she could always hunt them down and kick their arses later.

Now fully awake she took in her surroundings and was very glad to be in a private room of a hospital and not still lying in the alleyway where she had been attacked. Through the partially open door, she could see and hear the doctors and nurses rushing back and forth, and the place had the telltale smell of a strong disinfectant.

Afraid of what she might find, she hesitantly lifted her blanket to assess the damage, ignoring Vanille’s cry of protest when it displaced the blanket she had just tucked around her, and was pleased to find that when she lifted her bloodied, tattered T-shirt it wasn't as bad as she had feared. Bit black and blue and ribs were already taped up, and there was a residual taste of iron in her mouth. But on the up-side she could feel all her teeth when she checked them with her tongue and when she passed a finger over her nose she was pleased to find that is was unbroken.. However when she looked at the leg the woman had stamped on, she was displeased to find that it had been broken and her right leg was in a cast up to her knee, and that they’d cut open her favourite skinny jeans to do it. She groaned in disappointment, from experience she knew that she wouldn’t be able to manage anything faster than a lumbering hobble for at least a month and for a gym and extreme sport addict like herself that was the incredibly annoying. But it didn’t really matter because those things, including the pain, were only temporary. Every inch of her was still hurting, but they were safe, they were cared for, and they were alive.

Her thoughts were drawn back to her nightmare. She should have been used to it by now. She experienced it regularly, almost nightly on some months but it never lost any inch of its impact and always managed to leave her shaken, because the nightmare wasn't a fantasy but the very real memory of her tribe's massacre. But the second part of the nightmare, with the feral creature, that was new. She shivered slightly as she thought of those bright blue eyes holding her in such cold malevolence. But as dreams tend to do, the details began to fade the more she thought about it and she was too tired, and too shaken by it to even want to grasp onto any of the details. Instead she was left with the impression of grief and total despair. It was a feeling she had felt before and would have given into entirely if it hadn’t been for Vanille. 

Seemingly out of nowhere you suddenly thought of the cat. “Lightning!” She said aloud. Remembering how the cat’s body had slammed against the wall she was afraid of what the answer might be but she had to know what had happened to the brave little cat that had come to their rescue. “How is the cat?” She said again in a quiet voice, nervously picking at a loose thread hanging from her blanket while avoiding eye contact with the younger woman. Vanille turned looked towards her sister surprised at how meek the strong huntress looked at that moment.

“She’s badly injured but she'll live." Fang breathed a small sigh of relief. “I called Hope after the paramedics and he took her to the emergency vets. He says that she'll need lots of rest and someone to keep an eye on her-”

"I'll do it," Fang interrupted without looking up.

"Are you sure? You've got your own recovery to worry about, and we can look after her at the shelter."

Fang's eyes flicked up to meet her sister's. "Yes, I want to.”  
   
Vanille frowned at Fang’s guilty expression, sometimes her sister could be so stupid. She knew were sister well enough to know that now was not the right time to convince the brunette that she wasn't to blame for Lightning's condition so she acted instead and gave her sister another hug. Fand tugged on her waist, until Vanille got the idea and got back onto the bed settling down next to her sister. Fang wrapped an arm around her shoulders and without thinking Vanille carefully laid her head on her collarbone in an embrace they had shared hundreds of times before.

 “How are you really feeling?” Vanille said quietly after a moment and sat back slightly to look at her sister’s face. Vanille’s face winched in sympathy at the sight of Fang’s bruised and swollen face. Her jaw and cheekbones were covered in dark discoloured marks, her lips looked sore and bottom lip was split and had been bleeding. Her left eye was swollen and half-closed, and with the pattern of bruises mostly on the left side of her face, Vanille surmised that the attacker must have led with their right. She was used to looking after Fang after she had been in a fight but she hadn’t seen Fang so badly beaten in years and it hurt to look at her sister in such a state.

“Bloody awful,” Fang admitted in a rasping voice and rubbed at her throat with one of her hands. Her throat still felt like the demon’s heel was pressing on her neck and pain flared in her throat with every word every time she spoke meaning that she could barely manage anything above a whisper. When she had woken up the pain had been more of a general ache over her entire body, but now she was calming and the adrenaline was wearing off she was uneager to find out which one of her injuries would win out in the ‘biggest bitch’ competition – her ribs, her face, her leg? It was her head that was the clear winner in the end, but then the woman did hit it with a plank of wood. The throbbing where she had been struck was blossoming into heavy spasms, and from there the pain was creeping out, raking around her head to bury itself behind her eyes. “How long have I been unconscious?” She asked, narrowing her good eye to shield it from the intrusive white light of the fluorescent hospital strip lights.

“A few hours. The doctor was worried that you might have a concussion,” Vanille suddenly remembered what the Doctor had told her, so she stood up and smoothed down her skirt as she made her way to the door of the private room. “I should go get her ‘cause she said that she’d want to do some more checks once you were awake. I’ll give Hope a call as well and tell him to bring Lightning back to our house. He’s got a key,” she added as she was half way out of the door.

Fang’s jaw dropped. “He’s got a what!” She squawked, hurting her throat and momentarily forgetting about her headache. She had no idea her sister’s relationship with Hope was that serious. “And when were you going to tell me that your boy toy could let himself into our house whenever he wanted?” she questioned, but Vanille didn’t answer she just giggled mischievously as she left the room and continued laughing as she walked down the corridor. Sometimes Fang really hated that laugh.

Now alone, Fang allowed herself to contort in pain, hugging her throbbing ribs and groaning at her aching head. It had taken a great deal of Fang’s strength to hide how much she was suffering from Vanille but she hated worrying her sister, at least any more than she had already. Glancing at her bedside table she spotted a plastic cup of water and released one arm from her around her waist to grab a sip to quench her dry throat while wishing it was something stronger.

_That doctor better have some bloody good painkillers._

She replaced the cup and carefully laid her head back down onto the thin hospital pillows to stare up at the white ceiling. _This is one beating that’s gonna take a long time to recover from_ , she thought. Even that simply action had left her feeling exhausted and aching. But it had been worth it.

When she had retold her tale of the Yun massacre and the hazy memory of saving Vanille to the authorities in Oerba, they didn't believe her until the Dia corroborated her entire story. Fang, like her mother, was unusually strong for her age and sex but Fang hadn’t been able to deadlift the weight of a car again until she was in her early 20s and that had been after years of daily training in the gym. The media who had caught onto the story had called it hysterical strength, but Fang preferred to think of it as the lengths she would go to save her little sister.  

Because she would. Once she'd healed she'd take this beating again, and again, and again if it meant Vanille was safe. Just the thought of losing Vanille, of losing her family for the second time had Fang covering her mouth with her hand to bite back a sob just as the door began to open. Looking to the door, the huntress quickly wiped her eyes before Vanille and her doctor could see that she had been crying.

It turned out that the doctor did have some delightful painkillers, that were strong enough to take the edge of the pain without making her too drowsy or exacerbate her dizziness. To Vanille and Fang’s great relief, the Doctor’s examination found that the huntress hadn't sustained a concussion and all her injuries had been tended to which meant she didn’t have to spend the rest of the night or rather morning, stuck in hospital.

"The police are outside,” the doctor told them while finishing a few notes on Fang’s charts. “They'd like to talk to you before you're discharged. Is that okay?"

Fang rolled her eyes and gave an irritated sigh. She just wanted to go home and curl up into her own bed, but she understood the officer's desire to get witness statements as soon as possible when the events were still fresh and not open to the deceptions of time. "Yeah, thanks Doc. You can send them in." The pretty brunette, nodded her head and told them that she would have the discharge papers waiting for them when they had finished, and then left the two Pulsians alone in the hospital room.

Fang removed the blanket covering her and with Vanille’s help Fang moved to sit up and slide to the edge of the bed. She grimaced in pain, the move had made her ribs yell in protest and she bowed her head, concentrating on taking large deep breaths to dull the ache that managed to bypass the painkillers. “This is likely to be the strangest statement they’ll ever take,” Fang mused aloud between breaths, trying to sound light and breezy even though the strong twinges in her bruised ribs made her gasp and interrupt her speech. "Well," she corrected herself with a chuckle and looked at her sister, "the weirdest statement since they listened to yours."

“I didn't tell them anything," Vanille muttered sitting beside her on the bed, and taking Fang's hand in her own.

Fang frowned as she watched Vanille turn over her hand to run her fingers over the brunette's bruised grazed knuckles. "Why wouldn't you tell them what happened to us?" She leaned down to try and catch her eye but Vanille seemed more interested in the damage to Fang's knuckles than answering any of her questions. "Vanille," Fang said sharply. Vanille slowly looked up and it was then that Fang noticed that her sister’s eyes had become glazed and blank as she explained in a hollow voice.

"I can't remember anything." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it guys. It was a real biatch to write is all I'm sayin. 
> 
> FYI, Ger is a portable round tent used by nomadic Mongolians. 
> 
> The closest I’ve ever got to hurting myself is when I broke my thumb playing football a.k.a soccer (I was in goal before anyone starts taking the piss), so if anyone can give me an idea of what it feels like when you’re recovering from a broken rib or leg or brain injury I’d be much obliged.
> 
> Let me know what ya think. Always appreciate feedback.


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